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Regulatory news:
During a hearing yesterday morning in the French Senate, Dominique Senequier, president of Ardian, indicated that she was not working on a proposal for an offer competing with that of Veolia (Paris: VIE), currently under review by the French Markets Authority (AMF). ).
The Group also wishes to correct certain remarks made against Veolia by Dominique Senequier, which distort the reality of what Veolia is and of the project it is leading.
Ms. Senequier wondered about the French roots of Veolia, a company founded in France 168 years ago, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, with nearly 50,000 of its employees working in France out of a total of 170,000 worldwide. .
The presentation of Veolia by the directors of Ardian during this hearing in the Senate, seeking to present our Group as an actor without roots and little concerned with the industrial sovereignty of France, is particularly dishonest, especially in view of the history of ‘Ardian and recent developments. While Ardian is indeed owned by its employees, and above all by Dominique Senequier herself, the funds managed by her company are mainly from foreign investors, particularly American and non-European. The requirements of these funds in terms of return on investment, as well as the length of time the assets are held, are hardly compatible with the activities carried out by Veolia or Suez. The case of Saur, a large company competing with Veolia in France, bought by a consortium of investment funds, of which Ardian was a member, over-indebted in a few years, to the point of being finally placed under the protection of the commercial court, is eloquent from this point of view.
Likewise, by distorting Veolia’s communication on Suez “strategic assets“, the President of Ardian tried to reduce the industrial dimension of the merger project carried by the Group. As such, she showed a certain bad faith by asserting, on the one hand, that she did not understand not that Veolia could condition its offer as it stood. Systematically the case, on the non-sale of Suez’s main assets, but also on affirming that Veolia had no interest in Suez’s activities in France. Clearly a candidate for the takeover of Suez Suez Eau France, Ms. Senequier cannot ignore the fact that the reasons why part of these French assets will have to be sold by Veolia are the need to maintain competition.
The successive hearings of Thierry Déau, founder of Meridiam, declared candidate for the buyout of Suez Eau France, then of Dominique Senequier, highlighted the very strong difference in approach between the two options presented. One, carried by Meridiam, is clearly industrial since it provides strong guarantees (ownership of assets for at least 25 years, maintenance of employment and social benefits, doubling of investment, etc.) for employees. and customers of Suez Eau France. The other, supported by Ardian and the American fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which did not wish to answer senators’ questions, is clearly financial, as no serious guarantee has been made.
See the source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210218005411/en/
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